Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Muder of history (part 2)

The first war between newly-independent Pakistan and India happened in 1948 A.D in Kashmir Valley. It is postulated that the prime objective of Mujahideen(mostly from NWFP) was the liberation of Kashmir. Actually,when they reached near Sri Nagar, they forgot their “objective” and started criminal activities. Regarding this, Owen Bennet Jones in his book writes, “At this crucial juncture, when Kashmir was ready for the taking, Pakistan paid the price of the haphazard nature of its operations in Kashmir. Rather than striking forward, the tribesmen became distracted by the opportunities for plunder. Their increasingly lawless conduct had a disastrous consequence. The local Muslim population, rather than seeing them as liberators, began to fear them and, far from providing help to the tribesmen, turned against them. These developments and the bad international press Pakistan was receiving as a result of the invasion dismayed the government in Karachi. Officials not only disowned the tribesmen but also obstructed them. (Owen Bennet Jones, Pakistan:Eye of the storm, Yale University Press; 2002; Chapter 3; page 65) Sherbaz Khan Mazari, a seventeen year-old tribal leader from Balochistan who tried to take some men to join in the fighting, later recounted that when he tried to enter Kashmir, ‘I was stopped by Pakistani officials who told me in clear cut terms that I would not be allowed to cross into Kashmir. It became clear that they thought we were intent on partaking in the plunder that was taking place.’ (Sherbaz Khan Mazari, A Journey to Disillusionment, Oxford University Press,Karachi, 2000, pp. 11 and 12.)

2. The wars between India and Pakistan(1948, 1965, 1971,1999) were a Jihad.

According to the book Al-Jihad Fil-Islam written by eminent Islamic scholar Abu-al-Ala Maududi, there are certain definite situations when Jihad becomes obligatory on Muslims. The pre-requisite conditions of waging Jihad are

a.There should be an Islamic State(i.e which is based on Sharia Laws)

b. Governed by a Ruler who is (a Muslim and whose political authority has been established either through nomination by the previous ruler similar to how Abū Bakr transferred the reins [of his khilāfah to Umar] or through pledging of allegiance by the ulema or a group of the elite-elaboration by Javed Ghamidi, in his booklet The Islamic Shariah of Jihad, page 43, Reference from Hadith # 2533 in Sunan Abu Daud)

c.If the ruler has the moral grounds and the military might to curb the oppression and injustice of the country against which jihād is to be waged.

When the head of the state declares Jihad against the enemy, it becomes Farz for Muslims to help the state fight that enemy. The Conditions in which the head of state can declare Jihad are

6. To help Muslims living in Non-Muslim states If they are being oppressed and they call Muslim state for help.(Surah Nisa, Ayah 75)(Surah Anfal, Ayah 72-73)

7. To defend the state. (Surah Anfal, Ayah 60)

It is up to the reader to decide If any of Pakistan-India wars fulfilled the criteria. We didn’t even fulfill the Pre-Requisites.Regarding the fact that the wars are portrayed as “Jihad”, lets have a look at Brig Gulzar Ahmad’s book “Pakistan Meets Indian Challenge” written about the 1965 War. He wrote, “Incidents have occurred, during this war, which remind one of the Golden Age of Islam, the days of Badr and Ohad which was the age of supreme sacrifices and the pride of achieving it”(Page 7). Mr Gulzar, on page 69, wrote “There was a hidden hand deflecting the rounds which would otherwise have taken a heavy toll of the advancing troops”.(Gulzar Ahmad, Pakistan Meets Indian Challenge;Al Mukhtar Publishers; 1967;Pages 7,69) Brig ® A R Siddiqi in his book, “Image of Military in Pakistan” writes, “In his broadcast to the nation on the eve of the cease-fire, Ayub spoke eloquently of the performance of the armed forces. He declared: ‘Our forces were heavily outnumbered and they fought against tremendous odds, but God in his infinite mercy granted them the courage and determination not only to throw back the enemy forces but to inflict crushing blows both on his armour and on his infantry. Let this blessing of God and these achievements of the people and their brave and dedicated armed forces never to be forgotten. By this faith in God and in his cause and by his indomitable courage and superb craftsmanship, the fighting man has written in his blood a golden chapter in the history of Islam.’ The President’s broadcast was a go-ahead signal to the image-builders. His reference to the Pakistani’s soldier faith in God and contribution of a golden chapter to the history of Islam, gave the war a historical perspective and the military an indelible ideological image. The war became a total Jihad-a crusade against the evil o caste Hinduism”. Also, “The editor of a mass-ciculating literary Digest, Inayat Ullah, wrote: ‘Every officer, JCO and jawan of the army is a war hero. Every drop of the blood of these Ghazis and Shaheeds makes the heading of a separate chapter in Pakistan’s history’.(Brig ® A R Siddiqi, The Militray in Pakistan: Image and Reality; Van Guard Books; 1997; Chapter 5; Pages 103-108, 121) Regarding Pakistan Army’s role in War of 1971, Lets examine the testimony of Army Officers given before Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report.

*There was a general feeling of hatred against Bengalis amongst the soldiers and officers including Generals. There were verbal instructions to eliminate Hindus. In Salda Nadi area about 500 persons were killed. When the army moved to clear the rural areas and small towns, it moved in a ruthless manner; destroying, burning, killing. (Lt. Col. Mansoorul Haq)

*Many junior and other officers took the law into their own hands to deal with so-called miscreants. There have been cases of interrogation of miscreants which were far more severe in character than normal and in some cases blatantly in front of the public. The discipline of the Pakistani army, as was generally understood, had broken down. (Brigadier Mian Taskeenudin)

*General Niazi visited my unit at Thakurgaon and Bogra. He asked us how many Hindus we had killed. In May, there was an order in writing to kill Hindus. (Lt. Col. Aziz Ahmed Khan)

A look at the genealogies of two of our founding fathers i.e Jinnah and Iqbal tells us that Mr. Jinnah belonged to a Sindhi family that had migrated to gujarat.(Akbar S Ahmad,Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity; Routledge, 1997; Chapter 1,page 1 ) while Iqbal belonged to a Kashmiri sheikh family. Also, there was a considerable population consisting of Jatts and Gujjars before Islam came to our part of the world. Most of us are descendants of those early converts. The people most likely to have come down from Arabia are the Syeds who claim to be direct descendants from the Prophet (PBUH). Interestingly, in a research conducted by University College London, Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from the Indian subcontinent show evidence of elevated Arab ancestry but not of a recent common patrilineal origin For more on the castes of our country, visit this page.

4. Sheikh Mujib ur Rehman and his Awami league wanted to break the country.

In its report on the events of 1971, the Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission argued that: ‘We must give full weight to the fact that before the elections he[Mujib] offered the Council Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami a number of seats in East Pakistan which would have still permitted him to obtain the majority of the East Pakistan seats but not to have a clear majority in the whole house. Quite clearly his purpose was to be able to play the role of the leader of the largest single party without being under pressure for (sic) members of his own party to go through with the Six Point programme on the basis of an overall majority in the house. This fact clearly established that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at that time at least, had not decided on secession’. (Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report, part I, chapter VI, para. 96; Dawn; 13 January 2001; page 21)

2 comments:

Jinnah's family was not Sindhi, his family was a Gujarati Rajput family from 'Kathiawar' region in Gujarat, India and till his grandfather's generation, the family was 'Hindu' by religion. Iqbal's family was a Kashmiri Hindu family of 'Sapru' clan and like Jinnah his ancestors were also Hindus till his grandfather's generation

Thanks a lot for pointing out. I want to elaborate the point you made, 1. About Quaid-i-Azam, I have given the exact reference to what I wrote i.e. Akbar S Ahmad's book. Akbar S Ahmad is regarded as the official biographer of Jinnah and the "ancestry" quote is from Quaid himself.

2. Actually we are on the same page here. Kashmiri Sheikhs have been Hindus for centuries, no doubt about that.

About Me

Intrepid Traveler, more interested in Political Economy and History than Medicine, Politically Liberal. I support historical Revisionism(rewriting Pakistan's textbooks). have written for Dawn Blogs(English and Urdu), The News, The Friday Times,The News on Sunday,The Nation, Journal of Pakistan Medical Students, Express Tribune Blogs, Pakistan Today, ViewPointOnline.net and Pak Tea House. Currently Assistant Editor at Pak Tea House. Interested in general knowledge.